Strange News From Another Star

Author:  Hesse, Hermann

• Paperback: 122 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd.(1976)
• Language English
• Price: $3 

This review is from: Strange News from Another Star (Paperback)

I thought that this would be a remarkable collection of stories. There was a special mood in the opening tale , 'Augustus'. It was about a remarkable child whose mother gives him a special blessing that he will be 'loved by everyone he meets'. The consequence of this wish when it is realized is that he becomes spoiled, selfish, non- appreciative wealthy person who takes everything he receives for granted. The story does go one step beyond this but somehow the transformation involved in less than miraculous, and certainly far from happy. The Tale evokes great curiosity and interest at its outset but then somehow fails to realize itself.
The same is true of the second story 'The Poet' which begins also quite remarkably with the young poet offered a completely happy life turning from it to dedicate himself to his art. But this tale too does not follow through in a way which gives the reader a sense of the wonder and greatness of human life. The impression instead is one of disappointment.
It seems as if Hesse knows how to create an interesting proposition or idea for the story without knowing how to make the transformations in the story of equal interest. So too the characters of these stories do not seem very rich and rounded but rather abstract embodiments of a certain idea or concept.